Hearing Abigail talking about the Modified Humans made their eyes open.
"How?" Harmony demanded. Looking at Grace, her eyes showed a lack of comprehension of the information.
Learning about Abigail walking through some doorway and entering their training area gave everyone a start, leading to confusion.
"I'm confused." Grace agreed with Harmony. Looking at Han, she asked, "I know that you mentioned how this place is pumping that stuff called mana... but this place..." Grace wasn't able to articulate her thoughts due to the revelation from Abigail.
"It appears like some of the rumors were right," Ji-Min mumbled to herself.
"Rumors?" Han asked, wondering if it had any connections to what his high school teacher, Ms. Palmer, had yelled out back in Becky's office.
Startled by Han's question, she glanced sideways at him as if annoyed by his interrupting her private thoughts. As if thinking about whether to speak about her mumbling to him.
Seeing her hostility towards him made him mentally smirk, making him remember people from Earth who were similar in their standoff attitude. He didn't rush her, just looking at her face and waiting until she reached a decision.
Flicking back her hair that was freed from the helmet, she made a sighing sound. "Before we headed to the forest...," she paused for a second, her body language betraying her thoughts, "There were some of us that thought the training we were going through wasn't what Star and Moon was telling us it was." Seeing that she had gained the attention of everyone, her lips curled, before she continued, "Fighting monsters, training in a hellish environment, being able to live inside a simulation... All of this didn't feel like it fit with the narrative that it was all a simulation."
"But you had your doubts, right?" His mother asked, helping with Abigail who was still on the ground.
Getting up, Abigail looked lost about the subject matter being discussed. She kept turning her head to look at each of them, trying to figure out what they were talking about.
Looking at his mother, Ji-Min snapping, "Of course we did! Which one sounds more believable? That we were utilizing advanced technology that allowed us to practice in an artificially generated environment or traveling to another world through some type of portal like this girl is talking about?"
"But it doesn't make any sense," Harmony stepped in, looking like she had a better grip on her emotions. "How can Star and Moon create something that lets us travel to other worlds? How can there even be other worlds?!"
While Harmony was attempting to refute what was being stated by Abigail and Ji-Min, Han saw Jackie's group, aside from Jae-Hwa and Hina, looking like they were trying to act surprised by the reveal of information.
"Jackie, you look like you have something on your mind?" Han deliberately asked her, curious about she was going to take his probe.
There was a brief flash of Jackie being startled by his random question, but she was able to smoothly recover. Han looked at the others through the corner of his eyes and saw that they didn't catch Jackie's emotional spasm.
"I just can't seem to wrap my mind around this place being a real world," She turned to look at Lulu, Lacy, and Amanda who shared a similar look. "Abigail, you said you walked into a house and saw a doorway. What made you and your friends decide to enter?" Jackie questioned, her eyes flickering at where Han was standing.
Still leaning against Han's mother, Abigail appeared thankful for being included in the conversation. "My friends and I were part of a small community that's been struggling to survive, keeping out of sight from the Modified Humans and other bands of people." She looked at the ground as if it were a mirror that played back the prior events in her memories. "A bunch of us thought we'd go hunting to bring back food for everyone, especially the children who barely get enough food." Her lips trembled. "We found some wild game and chased it down. We soon found ourselves in an abandoned structure, with strange machines some still humming."
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
None of them could look away, listening to what Abigail was telling them. Not only did she reveal something that none of them had realized, but also how there were communities that managed to survive the changing world. They were silent, as if fearful that any sound would wipe the memories from Abigail's mind.
Taking a deep breath, Abigail continued, "Instead of just going after the game... Several of us decided to explore the building." Her voice grew thick. "I was one of the people that pushed the others into looking into the various rooms, even after seeing the bodies of men and women in white coats laying on the ground." Tears began forming and she looked up at them, a bitter smile and scrunched up face seen. "It was the first time we could kind of forget about everything going to crap." She sounded as if she were trying to convince everyone, as she waved her hands. Though soon both of her hands dropped and her shoulders slumped.
Jennifer went closer to Abigail and laid a supporting hand on the girl as if to convey empathy over whatever events transpired.
Having felt the supportive gesture from Jennifer, Abigail seemed able to continue. "As we went through each of the rooms to figure out what all the equipment was for, I heard a strange noise and felt drawn to something. Navigating our way through the hallways and various floors, I soon found myself seeing a large room with dozens of windows. It looked like regular windows just with a slight tint to it and when I tried tapping, I couldn't hear any sounds. Even using a knife that I always carried, no noises were made and the knife didn't even leave a scratch on it." Abigail still didn't seem to understand what it was that she saw, as she used one hand to demonstrate how she used the knife to chip at the window.
"It was likely bulletproof," Ji-Min said. "What you're describing reminds me of some of the levels in the Facility used for testing equipment."
"Do you think it was a Star and Moon building that Abigail and her friends entered into?" Ivy asked Ji-Min, Ruby nodding her head next to her.
"I don't' think that's the case," Amanda added in without warning.
When they looked at Amanda, Amanda looked uncomfortable but didn't provide any context to why she thought the way she did. Jackie, Lulu, and Lacy were similarly quiet, waiting for Abigail to continue her story.
Seeing that people were expecting her to answer their curiosity, Abigail appeared to shrink into herself. "I don't think it was Star and Moon. There were a few times that our community scavenged stores that we came across, and I got to see what Star and Moon's logo looked like. I remember a logo next to the doors and on the white coats of the dead people and it didn't look anything like something belonging to Star and Moon."
"So what happened next," Ji-Min said to the girl, sounding like she didn't care about the issue of the logo.
"Well... Many of the rooms on that floor were still protected from some type of security, making this one special. I saw that the door was propped open by a man that had burns all across his back. Even one of his hands was severely burned." Abigail explained.